Maryland fourth-graders are making progress in math, according to results from a national test that were released Wednesday.

11 News education reporter Tim Tooten said the results are from the NAEP test -- or National Assessment of Educational Progress. Its a test that compares how well Baltimore students are doing with students in 20 other major urban cities, Tooten said.

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Tooten on Wednesday visited City Springs Elementary-Middle School, where the students have a love for math.

I don't think math is hard, because math isn't hard if you pay attention and get through it, said fourth-grader Chelsea Gilmer.

Fourth-grade math scores were up slightly in the NAEP, which compares city students to those in cities like Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York. Tooten said that over a two-year period, fourth-grade math scores were up 3.4 percent.

There was also an increase for eighth-graders, but it was below the nations best.

I think these are gratifying results, said Baltimore City Schools CEO Andres Alonso. Results that underline the urgency around how our kids are doing, and really useful information in terms of what to do about our core mission.

Alonso was part of a national panel which released the NAEP, Tooten said.

For we are not interested in reflecting or perpetuating the inequities under which too many of our children suffer, our job is to overcome them, so poverty, race and language never define our kids chances for a brighter future, said Michael Casserly, executive director of Great City Schools.

Baltimore school officials said there is plenty of room for improvement across the board in reading and math, but they seemed most impressed with the progress of African-American male students, Tooten said.

Their math scores increased 1.8 percent for fourth-graders, and 3.5 percent for eighth-graders. Educators said the progress has a lot to do with what's taking place in the classroom.

We try to approach math as a science, so the children are constantly discovering new things, and they are coming with these theories on their own, said fourth-grade teacher Maura Roberts. And they're learning that's how it works, that's how it applies.

The results represent only a sampling of Baltimore fourth- and eighth-graders, Tooten said.